Last Saturday I got another e-mail from the harvardparties.com guys. Not such a bad deal, I thought. Nice to have someone improving the Harvard party scene rather than just complaining about it.

I saw the title: “Harvard State University party.” Didn’t feel right from the start. Knew where it was going, knew the sentiment, didn’t like it.

I open it up.

“Ever wanted to party like they do at that state school you could have coasted through?”

Gag me.

Unsuspecting, unaware, reading my Lowell-Open e-mail, instead of hearing a chill party without pretense, I am hit full in the face with unchecked Harvard elitism.

The response on the list was tepidly questioning at first, wondering what sort of angle the harvardparties.com guys were taking, what sort of attitude they were projecting. Some wanted to give them a free pass, suggesting that it shouldn’t matter how a party is advertised; ultimately, it’s just a party in the end.

I didn’t wonder about their tone, and I didn’t excuse it. The attitude of the message was clear, and that attitude is unsurprising here at Harvard. But the story of our elitist tendencies is always danced around, because it’s uncomfortable to talk about. Why don’t we tell it like it really is?

The Facts:

Most Harvard students think they’re better than state school students.

Most Harvard students think they’re better than other people in general

Too many are so insecure about their status here that they reassure themselves by reiterating time and again how much better they are than state school students.

And don’t think it ends there. Harvard student love the opportunity to declare themselves better than other people, whether by gaining entrance to a super-duper secret handshake society, getting the only A in sophomore government section, or snagging an editorial column in the Crimson—you see, we’re no different. My mug shot in the paper every week, my viewpoints in print. It’s nice to have people hear what you have to say, isn’t it?

The throwaway line in that party advertisement about coasting through a state school reflects an attitude of elitism that pervades social life here in our Ivy tower.

The culture of success at Harvard is often railed against; I know I’m not the first. But it’s interesting to see how that culture we generally adopt to gain entrance here tends to color social and extracurricular life during our four years.